


Strength Is A Gift

by marthaandtheponds



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Inspired by Music, Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) - Freeform, song inspired fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-27
Updated: 2014-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-26 10:19:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1684826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marthaandtheponds/pseuds/marthaandtheponds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Violet Mills has never known strength.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strength Is A Gift

**Author's Note:**

> This little fic is part of my Once Upon a Time AU, where Henry is now a girl named Violet, and Pan is not Rumple’s father, Felix is.

_“Here I am, a rabbit hearted girl...”_

 

Violet had no idea what it meant to be strong.

Before she had met Emma, it was being able to live in her stifling home, enduring years of emotional distance from her mother. Enduring was her strength, but she would never see it that way.

Emma was colder, but, to be fair, she had been slowly defrosting. She was just as emotionally distant as Regina, but for some reason, Violet couldn’t blame Emma for it. Emma was her birth mother, the one person she had searched for, and whatever she was, Violet loved.

And Violet couldn’t imagine anyone stronger.

So, for the few months after she met Emma, she tried to emulate her. Instead of being giddy, she met everything with a more calculation, and less joy, and carried herself with a feigned iciness.

And while that was fun for a while, she realized that that way of living was actually a bit sad. There were wondrous things happening around her. Fairy tales and stories had come to life around her! 

She accepted that she would never have Emma’s coldness, but prayed that she got something else from her.  And with that, Violet bloomed.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_“And in the spring I shed my skin_

_And it blows away with the changing wind...”_

 

Violet had never had a father.

Meeting Neal had been a shock, but the even bigger shock was realizing that her family was even bigger now, with the inclusion of Mr. Gold and Belle. She basked in the dream come true. Everyone was together, and they were a family.

No one would ever say it to her face, but she had changed. Her smile was more genuine, her eyes, (which she realized she got from her father), glowed, and she became fearless.

And that fearlessness gave her the ability to do anything, and Violet was strengthened, even if she never noticed it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_“I must become a lion hearted girl_

_Ready for a fight_

_Before I make the final sacrifice…”_

Neverland was scary. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew her mother would never say the same thing. But being forced to spend all of her time with savage Lost Boys, and on top of that, having to defend herself against Peter’s mind games, she was scared.

All she wanted was to be strong, and brave, like her mother. She wanted to be determined, like her father. Powerful, like Regina.

But all she was was Violet, and she was wilting.

“Do you think she’s ready?” Pan whispered to Felix, watching Violet notch another arrow and aim.

Felix watched her. Somehow, he could not imagine that that was his great-granddaughter. She was too levelheaded to have any of his blood.

The arrow flew with impeccable precision. As she moved to the tree to retrieve them, Felix turned away.

Violet could feel their eyes on her as she pulled the arrows out of the tree trunk. She had spent enough of the time here hoping that someone would save her. Now was her turn to be strong. The thought of it made her stomach turn, but she swore it to herself.

This time, Violet would be strong. She would endure, she would grow, and she would steel herself against this unforgiving land. Strength came from within, and she felt it.

 

Right in her heart.

 

"She's ready." Pan said to himself, exiting the shadows.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the Florence and the Machine song, "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up). I do not own the song, all copyright goes to Florence Welsh and the owners.


End file.
